


the last resort

by triggeringthehealing (froggydarren)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Scott McCall, Angst, Derek Feels, Derek Feels Guilty, Derek Hale & Scott McCall Friendship, Gen, Hurt Stiles, Isaac Lahey mention, M/M, Mentioned Paige, Saving Stiles, The Bite as a last resort, Vernon Boyd mention - Freeform, beginnings of a romantic Sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 00:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3269375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/triggeringthehealing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The deal was that no one would do it unless absolutely necessary. <br/>"I have to," Scott whispers, almost too quietly for even the wolves to hear. "There is no other…"</p>
            </blockquote>





	the last resort

The deal was that no one would do it unless absolutely necessary. Unless one of them was dying with no hope for regular human medicine helping. Scott offered that one time, before they found out that Stiles was _not_ sick the way he thought, that it was all a ruse from the Nogitsune. It was the only time both Scott and Stiles considered it -- the one time that Stiles started, for a tiny amount of time, thinking of how it would be to be a werewolf -- and neither of them brought it up since.

Scott had agreed to the deal eventually, for both Stiles and the Sheriff, after Stiles explained that he didn't want to be turned, after he mentioned that Peter -- and everyone still remembers Derek's furious growl when he heard that -- had offered once, and that Stiles had declined. Peter very unhelpfully reminded Stiles that it was a lie then. He was met with glares from everyone in the pack, human and supernatural alike, and he never brought it up again.

"I have to," Scott whispers, almost too quietly for even the wolves to hear. "There is no other…"

Derek shivers, despite the fact that it's the middle of the summer and with his temperature already running higher than usual he really has no business being cold. But the finality of Scott's words shakes him deep inside, and dislodges feelings and memories he's worked hard at suppressing.

_Paige_.

His mind freezes at the name the moment it surfaces with the memory associated with it. Fragile, small, breathing heavily in his arms, but somehow smiling anyway. Paige whom he held until the last second, until the final breath. Derek doesn't miss how his stance and Stiles' position in his lap mirrors that moment, and his body goes rigid when it clicks.

_No_ , he thinks and clings to Stiles almost too strongly. A grunt from the boy in his arms brings Derek back to reality, just enough to relax a little so he doesn't cause more damage.

"He's my best friend," Scott speaks again, his voice shaky and rough. "I can't… Derek, it's the only way," he says in a whisper, a plea.

Derek's mouth opens, but no words come out. Nothing in his mind is intelligible enough to make any amount of sense when put into sentences anyway, even if Derek could form them.

"We'll lose him if I don't," Scott chokes on the thought at the same moment as the words reach Derek's ears and make him shiver again. "You know the deal, we both… it is the _only_ thing left."

The time is measured by the beats of Stiles' weakening heart and the rush of blood in Derek's ears as his own heart seems to try urging Stiles' by beating louder, faster.

Finally, without looking up from Stiles' face, Derek nods almost imperceptibly, and he follows it with an exhale that carries the answer.

"Okay."

"Don't…" Scott starts, but Derek is shaking his head before Scott can finish the thought.

There's no way he's letting Stiles be anywhere but in his arms. He's not letting go, and if fate hates him as much as Derek is afraid it does, there's nowhere else that _he_ would want to be if the bite doesn't take. He was there with Paige, and Stiles --

_No_.

Derek pushes his mind from giving up, from the thoughts about how this will end the same way, with the body in his arms losing the battle.

_No_.

Scott is kneeling down by their side, and he looks at Derek one more time before his fangs show and he lowers them over Stiles' side, just below the gash that got them here.

_Please,_ Derek thinks, his hands as gentle as they can be around Stiles' body. _Please don't go. Stay. I need you. I love you. Please._

He doesn't know who he's pleading to, doesn't know if he's asking a deity or Stiles, he just hopes that his pleas will do something. Derek can feel the moment Scott bites down, and he holds Stiles close as his body shakes with the attempts to change. He remembers how it felt when he bit the others -- Erica's weak shudders that almost made him think that he just sent her into a seizure, Isaac's shivering that resembled the way he shook whenever he got out of his father's prison, Boyd's solitary grunt and jolt, Jackson's panicky whine that neither of them mentioned again. This is nothing like it, but it's also not the weakening trembling that he remembers from Paige, the gasps for air that escaped from her lips.

Scott sits by, a hand on Stiles' arm as they wait, both of them watching every move of Stiles' body as it fights -- Derek should've known, Stiles has always had more fight in him than anyone else -- against the bite as much as it fights with it.

Neither of them can tell how much time passed, but eventually the shakes slow down and Stiles' body settles, his breathing stronger, and Derek tunes back into the familiar heartbeat. It's the same, but it's not, strengthening with every beat, dropping hope into Derek's own heart with each pound. He closes his eyes so he can listen better, so he can tune into Stiles' body more, and time passes around him as he sits there, Stiles in his arms, unmoving.

"Der--"

_Please_ , he thinks, wondering for a moment if he's imagining the soft voice.

But then he opens his eyes and Stiles is looking up, eyes wide, mouth open as he gasps for breath. Derek allows himself a glance down at the gash and the bite below it, and his heart stutters when he sees them starting to close up.

"Hey bro," Scott sobs out, relief flooding the air surrounding him.

The corner of Stiles' lips curls up the tiniest bit, but Derek doesn’t miss it. It's enough to give in to hope, to make his mind stop worrying about what could go wrong. Then Stiles turns to Derek again, and his eyes flash electric blue.

"I'm here," Stiles whispers like he knows the words that Derek wants and _needs_ to hear. "You're -- stuck," he speaks slowly, still not strong enough for the words spilling from his lips, "stuck with me."

"Good," Derek blurts, unable to think clearly still.

_Stay forever_ , he thinks, _stay with me_.

"Not going --" Stiles tries to smile, and then Derek can feel a hand on his, "--anywhere."

"Good," Derek says again, not even feeling stupid for just repeating the same word, because Stiles is there, alive, and they might have a lot to talk about, but they _can_ , they _will_.

For now, Derek lets himself breathe.


End file.
